Tommy linklater is an 18 year old magician. The magic he performs is often minor - re-directing croquet balls making cards appear in closed purses - its always genuine: he actually does the impossible. He will soon learn t... more &raquohat his hobby for playing chess is another gift his mother left him. Studio: Peace Arch Home Entertain Release Date: 01/08/2008 Starring: Nicholas Wright Nwamiko Madden Run time: 90 minutes&laquo less

Movie Reviews

"This is a great movie, long overlooked. A small town high school is nuts about chess and everybody plays

The big showdown comes when a team from the Soviet Union is flown in to play the big match. The coach for Hatley High is a Soviet defector who defected during the last chess match between the two teams. The new Russian coach is a Russian nationalist, and the rivalry is personal.

On the night before the big showdown, the Russian team captain, Anya Petrovich, played by Ilona Elkin, seduces the Hatley High captain, played by James A. Woods, and tricks him by putting handcuffs on him and locking him in the principal's office. When the Hatley High Captain does not appear for the big final match, the Hatley High team will be forfeited unless somebody can be pulled off the bench to play the big final game.

The creators of this movie could have used a real chess consultant. Many of the moves shown on the chess board are illegal. Black moves first in the first game and, although they use chess terms like Sicilian Defense and Budapest Defense, the moves shown on the board are nothing like those openings.

However, we can overlook these defects because this movie teaches us chess players important lessons about how a movie about a high school chess match can be made exciting and interesting to the general non-chess playing audience.

Sam Sloan"

Not your typical teen comedy

Bryan A. Gerding | Cincy, Ohio | 05/14/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Hatley High is a great film. The comedy is the everyday things we love to see. This movie is largly aimed at "nerds" and the school is a lot like a Yale turned High School. All around enjoyable and well worth your money to see."